Flexible apron loop drier



Oct. 17, 1933. P. w. BUR 1,931,430

FLEXIBLE APRON LOOP DRIER Filed May 15. 193,3 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 457 {wig/s Oct. 17, 1933. p w BUR 1,931,430

FLEXIBLE APRON LOOP DRIER Filed May 15. 19:50 2 Sheet-Sheet 2 figg d/JUL I; If 3'35 .ZMenZvrf- Patented Oct. 17,1933

UNITED I STATES APRON IJJOOP DRIER Philip W. Bur, Philadelphia, Pa",assignor to Proctor & Schwartz, Incorporated, Philadelphia, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application May 15, 1930. Serial No. 452,725

, This invention relates to apparatus for drying or otherwise treatingplastic materials such as paints, pigments, chemicals, etc.

The apparatus in generalis somewhat similar to the apparatus shown anddescribed in the copending application I oi Alpheus O. Hurxthal, SerialNo. 370,662, filed June 13, 1929,;which has matured into Patent No.1,777,972 involv ing the use of an endless foraminous conveyer of thegeneral oharacter disclosed in the said Hurxthal application, with theexception the eonveyer apron in the present case is provided with girtsof the nature shown and described in my co-pending application, SerialNo; 370,911, filed June 14, 1929, which has matured into Patent No.1,891,140. I

In each of the above mentioned applications the material to be treatedis pressed into the endless conveyer apron while the said apron is beingmoved in a substantially horizontal plane,

the oon'veyer passing around a suitable roller,

after having been loaded with the material to be treated, which changesthe direction of movenient of the apron from the horizontal plane into asubstantially vertical plane".

Adjacent the top of the apparatus the con veyer apron passes around asecond roller and is fed downwardly thereby between a pair of spacedparallel movable supports, which. are disposed'respectively at theopposite side's oi the apron and adapted to be engaged by the ends ofthe apron gii't's, which extend beyond the longitudinal side edges ofthe apron, the movable supports moving in a horizontal plane at apredetermined rate of speed relative to the speed.

at which the apron is fed between the said movable supports, whereby theapron is formed into a series of loops suspended by the girts from thesaid movable supports disposed at opposite sides of the apron. a I iFrom the above, it will be noted that the apron, after r'e'eeiving thematerial to be treated, is subjected to flexing or bending first in onedirection through an angle of substantially 90 and then through an angleof substantially 180 in an opposite direction to the first bending,after which the apron is subjected to still an other bending ofsubstantially 180 starting at one girt, when it engages the movablesupports, and progressing through the section of the apron disposedbetween the last girt deposited on the movable supports and the nextsuecessive girt,

while the said section of the apron is being formed into a loop which iscompleted when the last said girt ports. I

The object of the present invention is to lifii i inate thismultiplicity of flexingsof the apifdn'; which, with some kinds ofmaterial, has a tnd= 6i) enc'y to loosen the material in the beltto-suehan extent that the material will fall theif-roiii.

According to the principles of my present iiivention, the portion or theapron disposed b= tween any two of the gifts is subjeeted'to but oneflexing, which takes place at a point sub= stantially equidistant fromeach of any two successively positioned g'irts. ,This single flex ing'is produced in such a gentle,- iis'y manner is deposited on the imovatie'up that thetendency' to loosen the mater-ins re:

duced to a minimum, or is ntirely'eliiiiiiidtem In the ac'coinpanyingdrawings? 1g 1 is a diagrammatic longitudinal l aisles-oi my presentinvention;' 4 Fig. 2 is a sectional plan View taken the line 2 2, Fig.1; Y i

Fig. 3'- is" a transverse sectional elevation taken on the line 3"3-,Fig.1;

Fig.- 4 is an enlarged seet'ioiialelevation of the pasting mechanism, bywines niepisstie ma terial 1S pIS'SdiIitO the Op fii ng s dith fdfffiinous c'onveyer apron; 1

Fig. 5 is an enlarged seetioiiai ivstien illus= trating the manner inwhiclitli asi'eii gins rife deposited on the movable supports; 3

Fig. 6 is an enlarg'edsectiemai elevation taken onthe line 6 6, Fig. 1,and

Fig. 7 isan enlarged viewer detail or the invention. I

The a paratus illustrated in drawings comprises a casing- 1, in' one"end (if whim; 541- jacent the bottom thereof; is iitatab'ly' atransversely extending shaft-a; Adjant the mp of the easing i, at aremoves from theshaft- 2", is 8; pair of snortshares 3} 3g which extendtransversely of the casing, iii axiitl alignment with each sin-er.-

Extending at n angle "with respeet to' tlie' ease of the 'casing 1, and"inclined from a" point" siib stantia'lly adjacent the shaft-2 t f apoint suit stantiany adjaoentthe' nort si :j s 3, 3, ando'ri each of theoppositely disposed'sides" cii'tlie'ziciis ingi, is n inclined suport-4.

on each of the guides 4 4', is adapted to title one portion of itdriifoliai'fi 5. drive I 5, 5 pass" respectively ar un spr'scir ts 6', 6p'osed at opposite 'ends' of the snare 2, 'art ra sprockets 7, 7rhoiintd res ectively on the sum shafts 3, 3, and around idlersproclret's 8, 8",

elevation ofan apparatus embodying me enn: i

at bl iii) driving lugs 13, 13 carried by or formed on the drive chains5, 5.

When the drive chains 5, are actuated, the

oonveyer apron will be drawn upward along the inclined guides 4, 4, theapron 10 passing around a roller 14 mounted on the shaft 2 at the lowerends of the inclined guides i, a, The

apron, after passing around the roller 14, will be drawn through asuitable pasting mechanism 15, which ispositioned along the inclinedguides 4 andextends across the apron between the said guides 4, 4 atapoint intermediate the shafts 2 and 3, and preferably adjacent the lowerends I of the guides 4, 4 as shown in Fig. 1.

Actuationof the drive chains 5, 5 causes one pair of lugs 13, 13 on thechains 5, 5 respectively to engage the opposite ends of one of the girts11 of the conveyor apron 10, thereby moving the said girt upwardly alongthe inclined guides 4, 4 and pulling the said conveyer apron 10 throughthepasting mechanism '15, by which the plastic material is pressed intothe openings into the said apron, as above noted. The engaged girt, 11continues to be carried upwardly along the guides 4, 4 and over thesprockets '7, '7 on the short shafts 3, 3, whereupon the projecting ends.12, 12-;;of,the said girt will engage and pass downwardly along reverseinclined guides 16; 16, to the upper run of a pair of movable supportingchains 17, 17 which are disposed respectively at opposite sides ofthecasing 1.

Aboutthe time the first said girt reaches the sprockets '7, '7, the nextsuccessive girt 11 of the apron 10 is emergingufrom the delivery end ofthe pasting mechanism and is being carried upwardly ,along the inclinedguides 4, 4 by another pair of driving lugs 13, 13 on the chains 5, 5.The portioncof the conveyor apron 10 disposed between the two girts 11,11 begins to sag, intermediatethe two girts as soon as the leading girtofv the pair is depositedon the relatively slow moving supports 1'7,1'7, thetraih ing girt 11 of thepair' being carried by the chains 5, 5which are moving at a considerably greater rate of speed than theleading girt now apron substantially equidistant from and between thetwo'girts, this bend becoming progressively sharper as the said trailinggirt ismoved upwardly along the guides [4, 4 and approaches thesprocketsfh 'lon the'shafts 3, 3, the loop attain ing its final state offlexing, as illustrated at 10, when the said trailing girt movesdownwardly along the reverse inclinedv guides 16, 16 onto the movablesupportsl-T, 17. V

The supports 1'7,,1'7 moving at a relatively low rate of speed withrespect to the rate of speed, of travel of the apron section 10,determines the spacing of the' girts 11, 11 on the movable supports 17,-1'7 and consequently the degree of sharpness in the bend of each loopformed. 1 i I The movable supports 61' chains 1'7, 1'7, as

disposed adjacent the shown in Fig. 6, are provided with rollers 18, 18which ride on supporting rails 19, 19, secured to the framework atopposite sides of the casing 1, the chains 17, 1'7 respectively. passingaround sprocket wheels 20, 20, located immediately adjacent thesprockets "7 and 8, and aroundsprocket wheels 21, 21 rotatably mountedin the casing at a point removed from the sprockets 20, 20, as clearlyillustrated in Fig. 1.

As the upper runs of the supporting chains 1'7, 1'7 move in thedirection of the arrow shown in Fig. 1, the looped conveyer is advancedthrough the casing 1 and is therein subjected to any desired form oftreatment, such as drying, .etc., after which the portion of theconveyor apron sprockets 21 passes around a roller 25 mounted on atransversely extending shaft 26, the roller traveling at the peripheralspeed substantially equal to the speed of travel of the drive chains 5,5 whereby the conveyor apron is drawnout of the loops, one afteranother, andv the. straightened conveyor apron is directedbetween a pairof substantially vertically extending pair of guides 27, 27, re-,spectively located at the oppositely disposed edges of the conveyorapron.

The conveyer apron is guided by the guides 27, 2'7 in a downwarddirection and while in such position is subjected toa beating operationperformed by a beater 28 which beats the treated material out of theconveyer,jthe said material falling into a hopper 30 disposed adjacentthe bottom of the casing 1, the said-hopper being provided with a feedscrew 31 which carries the said material outside the casing.

, Adjacent the bottom of the'casing the conveyer apron 10 passes arounda roller 32, mounted on a transversely extending shaft 33, and onto ahorizontally disposed platform li l, along which the said conveyer apronpasses throughout substantially the full length of the casing,

which brings the said conveyer and the girts 11 thereof under the lowerruns 5 5 of the drive chains 5, 5, intermediate the sprockets 9, 9, andthe sprockets 6, 6 which are carried by the shaft 2 at the front end ofthe apparatus.

The travel of the conveyor 10 and that of the drive chains 5, 5 are sosynchronized that as sprockets 9, 9 and engage the girt 11 which at thattime is disposed under the sprockets 9, 9, whereupon the continuedoperation of thefdrive chains 5, 5 will move the conveyer apron 10 alongthe horizontal platform 34 and around the roller 14 on the shaft 2, aspreviously described. Y

From theabove description, it will be obvious that after the conveyorapron 10 is loaded with the material to be treated, the said apron is lythe tendency of the material to be loosened in the conveyer apron isreduced to a minimum. After undergoing treatment, flexing of the apronis not objectionable as ithas the tendenoy to break the material out ofthe apron.

The body of the apron 10 is preferably constructed in a manner similarto the apron disclosed in the co-p'ending appiication of Alpheus O.Hurxthal, Serial No. 305,589, filed September 12, 1928, which maturedinto Patent No. 1,172,423, the purpose of which is to remove the driedmaterial from the apron" by a relative flexhis ing of the apronelements. The removal of a portion of the material by the flexing of theapron reduces the necessity for severe beating of the apron, therefore,the beating produced by the beater 28 is reduced to a very light tappingthereof.

While I have described my invention in connection with a foraminousconveyer apron in which the material-carrying openings or pockets extendcompletely through the conveyer apron from one face to the opposite facethereof, it will be quite obvious to one familiar with the mechanicalarts that the principles of the invention are applicable to any type offlexible conveyer apron adapted to be suspended in loops.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of aforaminous conveyer having spaced projections along the side edgesthereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of the conveyer forsupporting said projections, a pasting device adjacent the lower end ofthe inclined guides, supports for said projectionsadjacent the upperends of said inclined guides, means for advancing the projectionssuccessively along the inclined guides to pull the conveyer taut betweensuccessively spaced girts and between the upper supports and the pastingdevice, means for transferring the projections from the inclined guidesto the said upper supports whereby the taut portions of the conveyerwill be folded intermediate said girts to form the conveyer into loopsbetween the pasting device and the upper supports and whereby the saidloops will be supported solely by the said upper supports, means foradvancing the loops along said upper supports, and means for drawing theconveyer out of said loops at the opposite end of said upper supports.

2. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of aforaminous conveyer having spaced projections along the side edgesthereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of the conveyer forsupporting said projections, a pasting device adjacent the lower end ofI the inclined guides, supports for said projections adjacent the upperends of said inclined guides, means for advancing the projectionssuccessively along the inclined guides to pull the conveyer taut betweensuccessively spaced girts and between the upper supports and the pastingdevice, means for transferring the projections from the inclined guidesto the said upper supports whereby the taut portions of the conveyerwill be folded intermediate said girts to form the conveyer 'into loopsbetween the pasting device and the upper supports and whereby the saidloops will be supported solely by the said upper supports, meansfor'advancing the loops along said upper supports, means for drawing theconveyer out of said loops at the opposite end of said upper supports,and means for re turning the conveyer to the lower ends of the inclinedguides for reloading by the pasting device.

3. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of aforaminous conveyer means for advancing the projections successive- 1yalong the inclined guides to pull the conveyer taut between successivelyspaced girts and between the upper supports and the pasting device,means for transferring the projections from the inclined guides to thesaid upper supports whereby the taut portions of the conveyer will be"folded intermediate said girts to form the conveyer into loops betweenthe pasting device and the upper supports and whereby the said loopswill be supported solely by the said'upper supports, means for advancingthe loops along said upper supports,. means for drawing the conveyer outof said loops at the opposite end of said upper supports, means forremoving the material from the conveyer belt, and means for returningthe conveyer to the lower ends of the inclined guides for reloading bythe pasting device. a a a 4. In an apparatus for treating plasticmaterials, the combination of an endless foraminous conveyer,transversely extending girts disposed at spaced intervals along saidconveyer and having ends projecting beyond the side edges thereof, aninclined guide adjacent each side of said conveyer for supporting theprojecting ends of said girts, a pasting device adjacent the lower endsof the inclined guides,. supports for the girts at the upper ends ofsaid inclined guides, drive chains movable parallel to said inclinedguides. and adapted to engage the projecting ends of said girts toadvance said girts along said inclined guides to pull the conveyer tautbetween the pasting device and the upper support and to deliver thegirts successively to the.

said upper supports, whereby the said taut portions of the conveyer willbe successively formed into loops between the pasting device and theupper supports.

5. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of anendless foraminous conveyer, transversely extending girts disposed atspaced intervals along said conveyer and having ends projecting beyondthe side edges thereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of saidconveyer for supporting the projecting ends of said girts, a pastingdevice adjacent the lower ends of the'inclined guides, supports for thegirts at the upper ends of said inclined guides, drive chains movableparallel to said inclined guides and adapted to engage the projectingends of said girts to advance said girts along said inclined guides topull the conveyer taut between the pasting device and the upper supportsand to deliver the girts successively to the said upper supports,whereby the said ,taut portions of the conveyer will be successivelyformed into loops between the pasting device and the uppersupporta'means for drawing the conveyer out of said loops, said conveyerreturning to the lower ends of said inclinedguides in a plane apart fromthe loops, means efiecting disengagement of the drive chains from thegirts adjacent the upper ends of the inclined guides, and means foreffecting reengagement of the drive chains with said girts in the saidreturn plane of the conveyer.

6. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of anendless foraminous conveyer, transversely extending girts disposed atspaced intervals along said conveyer and having ends projecting beyondthe side edges thereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of saidconveyerfor supporting the projecting ends of said girts, a pastingdevice adjacent the lower ends of the inclined guides, supports for the,

girts at the upper ends of said inclined guides, drive chains movableparallel to said inclined guides and adapted to engage the projectingendsof said girts to advance said girts along said inclined guides topull the conveyer taut between the pasting and'to deliver the girtssuccessively to the said upper supports, whereby the said taut portionsof the conveyor will be successively formed into loops between thepasting device and the upper supports, means drawing the conveyer out ofsaid loops, said conveyer returning to the lower ends of the inclinedguides in a plane disposed below the loops, means effectingdisengagement of the drive chains from the girts adjacent the upper endsof said inclined guides, and means efiecting reengagement of the drivechains with the girts in the said return plane of the girts.

7. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of anendless forarninous conveyer, transversely extending girts disposed atspaced intervals along said conveyer and havconveyer for supporting theprojecting ends of said girts, a pasting device adjacent the lower endsof the inclined guides, supports for the girts at the upper ends of saidinclined guides, drive chains movable parallel to said inclined guidesand adapted to engagev the projecting ends of said girts to advance saidgirts along said inclined guides to pull the conveyor taut between thepasting and the upper supports and to deliver the girts successively tothe said upper supports, whereby the said taut portions of the conveyerwill be successively formed into loops between the pasting device andthe upper supports, means drawing the conveyor out of said loops, saidconveyor returning to thelower ends of the inclined guides in a planedisposed below the loops, ineans-effecting disengagement of the drivechains from the girts adjacent the upper ends of said inclined guides,and means effecting reengagement of the drive chains with the girts inthe said return plane of the girts, said means comprising sprocketsadjacent the upper ends of the inclined guides and sprockets adjacentthe return plane of the conveyer around which the drive chains pass.

8. In an apparatus for treating plastic materials, the combination of anendless foraminous conveyor, transversely extending .girts-disposed atspaced intervals along said conveyer and havin'g ends projecting beyondthe side edges thereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of saidconveyor for supporting the projecting ends of said girts, a pastingdevice adjacent the lower ends of the inclined guides, supports .for thegirts at the upper ends of said inclined guides, drive chains movableparallel to said inclined guides and adapted to engage the projectingends of said girts to. advance said girts along said inclined guides topull the conveyer taut:

jacent the upper ends of said inclined guides;

means eiiecting reengagement oi the drive chains with the girts in thesaid return plane of the girts, said means comprising sprockets adjacentthe upper ends of the inclined guides and sprockets adjacent the returnplane of the convey-er around which the drive chains pass, and sprocketslocated in the angle formed between the inclined guides and the returnplane of the conveyor for transferring the conveyer from the returnplane to th plane of the ining ends projecting beyond the side edgesthereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of said clined guides.

9. In an apparatus for treating plastic 1naterials, the combination ofan endless ioraminous conveyer, transversely extending girts disposedatspaced intervals along said conveyor and having ends projecting beyondthe side edges thereof, an inclined guide adjacent each side of saidconveyor for supporting the projecting ends of said girts, a pastingdevice adjacent the lower ends of the inclined guides, supports for thegirts at the upper ends of inclined guides, drive chains movableparallel to said inclined guides and adapted to engage the projectingends of said girts to advance said girts along said inclined guides topull the conveyer taut be tween the pasting device and the uppersupports and to deliver the girts successively to the said uppersupports, whereby the said taut portions of the conveyorwill besuccessively formed into loops between the pasting device and the uppersupports, means drawing the conveyor out of said loops, said conveyorreturning 'to the lower ends of the inclined guides in a plane disposedbelow the loops, means efiecting disengagement of the drive chains fromthe girts adjacent the upper ends of said inclined guides, meanseffecting reengagement of the drive chains with the girts in the saidreturn 1313118

